At present drinks, food, or bottled products are available in different types of containers, such as glass, plastic or PET bottles, plasticized recipients, as well as metal cans, etc., whereby during processing and bottling it is necessary to transport the empty and/or full containers from one place to another, during the different stages of the industrial process to which they are submitted, using conveyor chains generally made of stainless steel or plastic, which provokes a constant friction between the conveyor chains and the containers, between the components of the conveyor chains, as well as the mutual collision among the containers during transportation.
A result of uncontrolled friction, or of an insufficient lubrication of the settings of the conveyor chains, may be a series of unfavorable situations, such as the containers tipping over or obstructing the passage (even though the conveyor chains continue operation), or otherwise, provoke more noise and discontinuity in the feeding or supply of containers to the following stages in the process, for example in the filling or labeling stages. Therefore, these situations may lead to a low performance in the stages of the process, provoking an accelerated wear of the conveyor chains and force the capacity of the motors, all the former because of an inappropriate lubrication.
Conventional solutions to the need for controlling friction in such situations includes the use of a concentrated lubricant (often soap-based or fatty amine) diluted with water to form an aqueous dilute lubricant solution (i.e., dilution ratios of 100:1 to 500:1), and copious amounts of aqueous dilute lubricant solutions are typically applied to the conveyor or containers using spray or pumping equipment. These lubricant solutions permit high-speed operation of the conveyor and limit marring of the containers or labels, but also have some disadvantages. First, dilute aqueous lubricants typically require use of large amounts of water on the conveying line, which must then be disposed of or recycled, and which causes an unduly wet environment near the conveyor line. Second, some aqueous lubricants can promote the growth of microbes. Third, by requiring dilution of the concentrated lubricant dilution errors can occur, leading to variations and errors in concentration of the aqueous dilute lubricant solution. Finally, by requiring water from the plant, variations in the water can have negative side effects on the dilute lubrication solution.
When an aqueous dilute lubricant solution is used, it is typically applied at least half of the time the conveyor is running, and usually it is applied continuously. By running the aqueous dilute lubricant solution continuously, more lubricant is used than is necessary, and the lubricant concentrate drums have to be switched out more often than necessary.
“Dry lubes” have been described as solutions to these disadvantages of dilute aqueous lubricants and have been referred to a lubricant composition with less than 50% water that was applied to a container or conveyor without dilution. However, this application typically required special dispensing equipment and nozzles and energized nozzles in particular. Energized nozzles refer to nozzles where the lubricant stream is broken into a spray of fine droplets by the use of energy, which may include high pressures, compressed air, or sonication to deliver the lubricant. Silicone materials have been the most popular “dry lube.” However, silicone is primarily effective at lubricating plastics such as PET bottles, and has been observed to be less effective at lubricating on glass or metal containers, particularly on a metal surface. If a plant is running more than one type of container on a line, the conveyor lubricant will have to be switched before the new type of container can be run. Alternatively, if a plant is running different types of containers on different lines, the plant will have to stock more than one type of conveyor lubricant. Both scenarios are time consuming and inefficient for the plant.
It is against this background that the present invention has been made.
An object of the invention is to provide a dry lubricant suitable for various materials as well as suitable for maintaining lubrication in dirty zones of an application.
A further object of the invention is to provide a “universal” lubricant that may be used with a variety of container and conveyor materials.
Other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.